


At the Top of 5th and Main

by SStickperson



Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Covert Operations, Drizzling Rain, M/M, Picnics, Stakeouts, Steak Outs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-04
Updated: 2013-07-04
Packaged: 2017-12-17 15:08:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/868932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SStickperson/pseuds/SStickperson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He knew that Howard used the missions to escape from Obadiah.</p>
<p>That didn't mean he wasn't the most infuriating partner Nick had ever worked with.</p>
            </blockquote>





	At the Top of 5th and Main

He wasn’t one to complain. He was used to worse missions, to the bad weather, to just about everything that could possibly go wrong. It was what he was trained for. And if he didn’t like the weather, or the job, or the people he had to work with, he could stuff it because that’s what he was trained for.

But if there was one type of weather, that no matter what the mission always pissed him off, it was a drizzle. Not enough of a downpour to blind everything, just enough to make the air damp when it wasn’t pittering on his head as if God or angels or whoever was up in the skies was drooling on him. Or sprinkling him. It was just enough of a drizzle to make his clothes uncomfortably damp. Not wet, not soaked, not dry, but damp. He hated damp--hated the moldy feeling he always associated with it.

It didn’t help that he was stuck watching this damn building with Howard Stark.

He loved the man, he really did (well, as much as he could say so), but sometimes-- _sometimes_ he just wanted to punch him. That, however, might be because he was damp and the tactical uniform he was wearing was a pain in the ass. And Howard had wandered off, with all his genius’ attention span of ten seconds, talking about food and refusing to eat the rations they had been allotted.

He blinked when the smell of something _good_ hit his nose, and he turned to see Howard standing there, frowning.

“You’re still watching that building?”

“That’s the whole purpose of the mission, Stark.”

Howard’s eyes flitted to the building, and it was then that he realized the man was holding a basket and an umbrella.

“That’s boring.”

“That’s reality. Might do you good to check in every now and then.”

Howard snorted, setting the basket down. “You look miserable.”

“I’m _damp_ ,” he grouched, his eyes flitting back to the building as he moved to sit in a more comfortable position, the smell from the basket increasing when Howard opened it and pulled out something that looked like a waterproof blanket. “What the hell, Stark?”

Howard shrugged. “When you said, ‘Stakeout,’ I thought that meant there would be steak involved.”

Fury frowned as the man set the blanket out on the roof, looking back to the building.

“So, like any good scientist and engineer, I corrected your mistake.”

“What?”

Howard propped up the umbrella, and Nick couldn’t even _begin_ to imagine how bizarre it looked that he was setting up a picnic in the of middle a drizzle on the roof of a nondescript building with a man dressed all in combat gear, who until a minute ago had been well-hidden. He shook his head. Howard just grinned cheekily and pulled out what had to be the best cuts of steak he would ever see. He thought this with certainty because it was Howard Stark, and if there was one thing he had learned, it was that Stark never half-assed anything when it came to food. Or comfort. Or extravagance.

“You left me here in this miserable piss... to buy _steak_.”

“Yup.”

“For a mission where we are supposed to stay undercover and hidden.”

“Yup.”

“Because you were hungry.”

“In my defense, those rations you offered looked like dog food.”

Nick looked at him, incredulous, and almost didn’t catch it when Howard offered him out a tin container with the food in it.

“Besides, you said he was asleep. That means he won’t be up for a while.”

“Not everyone sleeps like you if you do sleep,” Nick muttered, taking the offered knife and fork as Howard shrugged. “And we’ve been watching him long enough so far we know that he’s always napping. He doesn’t crash and burn like you.”

“You’re a talented guy,” the genius continued. “You can watch the building _and_ enjoy some of the best steaks Washington has to offer.”

Nick wasn’t so sure, not as he pried off the top of the tin and felt his mouth water at the steak and grilled potatoes sitting in the container. Still. Appearances. He forced himself to look up, frowning at Howard, who had already set the umbrella, creating a small “no drizzle” zone for them to eat in. The genius smiled at him. He looked back at the building.

“Come on, Nick,” he heard, and that was all the warning he got before he saw Howard leaning in, stealing a swift kiss before settling down with his own plate. “Lighten up. It’s disgusting out, and you’re not going to let me go in until we get that guy, so you may as well enjoy the gift I brought.”

“Howard, we’re--” he paused at the bright, entirely too “I’m a kid in a candy store with free reign” look Howard was giving him. He frowned. “What?”

“You used my first name.”

“What?” he asked, incredulous.

“You used ‘Howard’ to address me.”

Before he could even register it, he had a lap full of Howard and instead of steak he had a mouth full of tongue, and even though Nick felt damp, his partner was warm, and he found himself wrapping his arms around the man’s waist and sinking into the kiss, social norms be damned. (He figured at this rate, it was only a matter of time before his partner could convince him to take him in public.) When Howard pulled back, Nick licked his lips, and the man in his lap beamed.

“So, now that you’re finally using my first name, how much longer before you let me make you that robotic eye--”

“No, Howard,” he found himself slipping again. “No laser-shooting, net firing, heat-visioned eyeball.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m positive, and for that matter, you’d better get out the radio and tell HQ he’s left the building.”

Howard tilted his head, checking with one raised eyebrow to find their target staring at them from down on the street, and the genius waved merrily at their target, who jerked in surprise at being caught staring at the couple on the rooftop.

And, after letting HQ take care of the rest, Nick enjoyed the best steak dinner of his life.

 


End file.
